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Welcome to CM220

In Comp I, you learned about thesis statements and body paragraphs. That course focused on the writing process.

In Comp II, you'll be doing academic writing: presenting an opinion based on research.

This course is built around the research process. All of your assignments will build towards your final persuasive research paper:

You'll choose a topic to research.
You'll identify sources you can use for your research paper in a topic exploration project.
You'll think critically about your topic, avoiding logical fallacies.
You'll plan your research.
Finally, you'll take a stand and support it with evidence in your argumentative paper.
You'll share your findings in an informal briefing.

You will also take a Grammar Diagnostic to help you identify weaknesses that might make it hard for readers to get your message. If you don't like your score, you can do some practice activities to raise it.

Handouts will be available on the Assignments page after each class.

Wondering why you have to take Comp II? See results of the Writing: A Ticket to Work survey.

Writers on Writing

I don't see writing as a communication of something already discovered, as "truths" already known. Rather,
I see writing as a job or experiment. It's like any discovery job; you don't know what's going to happen until you try it.
—William Stafford,
Writing to Learn

The writing process is anything a writer does from the time the idea came until the piece is completed or abandoned. There is no particular order.
—Donald Graves,
writing researcher

You have to get the bulk of it down, and then you start to refine it. You have to put down less-than-marvelous material just to keep going, whatever you think the end is going to be, which may be something else altogether by the time you get there.
—Larry Gelbart,
M.A.S.H writer

If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called Research.
     —Albert Einstein,
      scientist

If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the sheltered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter.
—Margaret Mead,
anthropologist

Easy writing makes hard reading.
—Ernest Hemingway,
novelist

To have a decent career in America you need to be able to write a succession of clear, decent sentences.
—William Zinsser,
author/editor

Read and revise; reread and revise; keep reading and revising until your text seems adequate to your thought.
—Jacques Barzun,
teacher

Copyright in these materials belongs to C. Munzenmaier © 2008.
Teachers are free to reproduce or modify them for nonprofit educational use.

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Writers on Writing

I don't see writing as a communication of something already discovered, as "truths" already known. Rather, I see writing as a job or experiment. It's like any discovery job; you don't know what's going to happen until you try it. —William Stafford, Writing to Learn

The writing process is anything a writer does from the time the idea came until the piece is completed or abandoned. There is no particular order. —Donald Graves, writing researcher

You have to get the bulk of it down, and then you start to refine it. You have to put down less-than-marvelous material just to keep going, whatever you think the end is going to be, which may be something else altogether by the time you get there. —Larry Gelbart, M.A.S.H writer

If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the sheltered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter. —Margaret Mead, anthropologist

Read and revise; reread and revise; keep reading and revising until your text seems adequate to your thought. —Jacques Barzun, teacher

I don't see writing as a communication of something already discovered, as "truths" already known. Rather,
I see writing as a job or experiment. It's like any discovery job; you don't know what's going to happen until you try it.
—William Stafford,
Writing to Learn

The writing process is anything a writer does from the time the idea came until the piece is completed or abandoned. There is no particular order.
—Donald Graves,
writing researcher

You have to get the bulk of it down, and then you start to refine it. You have to put down less-than-marvelous material just to keep going, whatever you think the end is going to be, which may be something else altogether by the time you get there.
—Larry Gelbart,
M.A.S.H writer

If one cannot state a matter clearly enough so that even an intelligent twelve-year-old can understand it, one should remain within the sheltered walls of the university and laboratory until one gets a better grasp of one's subject matter.
—Margaret Mead,
anthropologist

Read and revise; reread and revise; keep reading and revising until your text seems adequate to your thought.
—Jacques Barzun,
teacher